Refractory anchors and supporting hangers therefor



R. A. RATH Jan. 14, 1958 REFRACTORY ANCHORS AND SUPPORTING HANGERS1HEREFOR Filed NOV. 28, 1955 JNVENTOR. Robert A. Raf/7 #244 Emmi/ K H/SArromvsrs ited REFRACTORY ANCHORS AND SUPPORTING HANGERS THEREFOR Thisinvention relates generally to an assembly of structural elements suchas are included in, and as form a part of refractories employed in roofstructures of furnaces, in furnace doors and incovers for soaking pitsand similar structures. In producing such refractories it is usualprocedure to employ preformed refractory anchors which are usually ofsubstantial length and are so formed that they converge toward one endthereof. The smaller end of each such anchor is usually referred to asthe upper end and is supported by a metallic hanger which is providedwith two sets of oppositely disposed, spaced support flanges. One set ofsuch flanges is adapted and arranged to engage and support an anchor andthe other set is adapted and arranged to engage a supporting elementsuch as an I'beam and to support the anchor from such element.

It is usual practice to form the anchors from specially selected clay,i. e., clay sometimes referred to as superduty clay, and is preferablydry pressed to molded or final form. Such clay is then dried and firedto form the refractory anchor to a maximum porosity of not more than15%. The small or upper end of each anchor is so formed as to providehanger-engaging shoulders adjacent that end of the anchor. The shouldersare located on opposite sides of the anchor and may be so located thatthey, in effect, extend the surface of the upper end portion of thehanger.

It is also usual practice to cast a monolithic structure around, and inbonded relationship with one or more anchors. In accomplishing this, oneor more anchors equipped with supporting hangers are suspended from asupport structure so that the anchors are located in desiredrelationship within the confines of an open top mold.

Castablematerial is then poured into the mold and around the anchors.The usual procedure is to fill the mold to an extent such that theanchors are totally submerged by the castable material within the moldand the anchor-supporting hangers are partially submerged by thecastable material so that the completed cast structure as removed fromthe mold, includes one or more anchors as an integral part thereof andis equipped with a corresponding number of hangers so arranged that theyare capable of being employed as supporting hangers for the monolithicstructure. I 7

An object of the :present invention is to produce refractory anchors andhangers therefor which are so formed that the hangers are adapted tosupport and cooperate with an anchor so that each anchor is firmlypositioned 'on its supporting hanger and, while readily movabletherefrom, .is so positioned that it resists accidental displacement,and particularly accidental displacement during the operation of pouringcastable material varound formed .on .the anchor .and its cooperatinghanger .are

inclined to .thelline of gravity .pull through .the center of atetltiice gravity of the hanger so as to contribute to a relative firmpositioning of the anchor on the hanger.

A further object is to produce a combination anchor and supportinghanger therefor in which the anchor is provided on opposite sidesthereof with hanger-engaging surfaces which are located between theupper and lower ends of the hanger and which extend at an oblique angle,i. e., an angle other than a right angle, to the major axis of theanchor and in which the cooperating hanger is provided withcorrespondingly inclined anchor-engaging surfaces, each of whichterminates at its lower end in an upright, anchor-engaging stop.

A further object is to provide an elongated anchor in which each of thelateral surfaces thereof converge from the lower to :the upper end ofthe anchor and inwhich the anchor is provided with two oppositelydisposed, parallel, hanger-engaging surfaceswhich are located adjacentto, and on opposite sides of the upper end of the hanger butintermediate the two ends thereof and in which each such hanger-engagingsurface is inclined at an angle, other than a right angle, to the majorvertical axis of the anchor.

A further object is to provide a support hanger for an anchor in whichthe anchor-engaging surfaces of the hanger are spaced apart, oppositelydisposed, parallel surfaces, inclined to correspond to the inclinationof the hanger-engaging surfaces of the cooperating anchor and in whicheach anchor-engaging surface of the hanger terminates in a verticallyextending, anchor-engaging stop which is located at the lower end of theanchor-engaging surface.

These and other objects are attained by means of appara'tus such asillustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a refractory anchorembodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of a metallic orsteel hanger which is adapted to support an anchor of my invention andwhich constitutes a detail of my invention.

Figure 3 is a fragmental sectional view on a somewhat reduced scale, ofa hanger supported anchor submerged in castable material included in anopen top mold. The anchor-supporting hanger is "in turn supported froman I beam forming a part of a support structure, and is partiallysubmerged by the castable material in the mold.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken at right angles to the view shown inFigure 3 and in which a side elevation of the anchor and its supportinghanger are illustrated. Figure 5 is a plan view on a reduced scaleillustrating an 'open top mold with a support structure located abovethe mold and with three lines of spaced anchors supported on I beamsforming a part of the support structure.

As illustrated the refractory anchor A is an elongated structure inwhich the upper and lower ends thereof are substantially parallel toeach other and in which each of the side surfaces of the structureconverge from the 'lower end to the upper end of the hanger. In theillustrated embodiment the anchor is so formed that each of the endsthereof is substantially square and, consequently, the anchor has fourlateral and converging surfaces. Each such surface is shown corrugatedin the portion thereof intermediate the upper and lower ends of theanchor. This surface contour contributes to or increases the bondingeffect between the anchor and the monolithic refractory which iseventually cast around it. As illustrated, hanger-engaging shoulders 5-5of the anchor are forme'don opposite sides of one end, viz., the :upperend o'fxthe anchor. As shown, the shoulders are formed adjacent theupper :or smaller end of the anchor and lthe upper surface of eachshoulder may, if

desired, the so located .as to constitute an extension of the uppersurface of the anchor, That is to say, if it is considered that theshoulders --5 are located at the upper end of the anchor, then it may besaid that each surface 6 is inclined to the horizontal both transverselyand longitudinally and that the longitudinal axis of the anchor is themajor vertical axis of the anchor.

As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, each anchor is adapted to be supportedby a hanger H, which in turn is adapted to engage and be supported by anelement such as an I beam, which forms a part of a support structure.

As shown in the drawings, each hanger is provided with two sets ofspaced, oppositely disposed flanges. One such set includes the parallelflanges 8-8, each of which is a re-entrant flange formed on anupstanding arm 9 which is shown as integrally formed with a cross member10 forming an integral part of the hanger. The other set of flangesincludes the flanges 11-1l which likewise are re-entrant, spaced,oppositely disposed flanges extending parallel to each other. Each suchflange 11 is shown as formed at what may be referred to as the lower endof a separate member 12 which depends from the cross member 10. As shownin Figures 2 and 4, each flange 11 extends lengthwise of the member 12and across the hanger at an angle to the cross member 10.

That is to say, when the hanger is supported by its flanges 8 and inturn supports an anchor, one end of each flange 11 of the hanger iselevated above the other end and each anchor-engaging surface thereof isadapted to engage and support a surface 6 of the anchor substantiallythroughout the entire extent of that surface. The lower end of each ofthe inclined flanges 11 termimates in an upstanding lug or stop 13 whichforms an integral part of the hanger and which is adapted to engage alateral face of one of the shoulders 5 formed on the anchor. Thus fromthe disclosure it is apparent that the hanger-engaging surface of eachshoulder 5 is located on the side of the shoulder farthest from theupper end of the anchor, i. e., is located intermediate the ends of theanchor and extends in a substantially straight line throughout thelongitudinal length of the shoulder. Each such surface is inclined tothe vertical axis of the anchor, both transversely and longitudinally ofthe shoulder so that each such surface extends at an angle other than aright angle to the horizontal when the anchor is suspended from ahanger. It should also be noted that each such surface is inclined tothe vertical axis of the anchor which extends in the direction ofgravity pull exerted on the anchor when the same is suspended from ahanger.

In each of Figures 3 and 4 an anchor A is shown associated with, andsupported by a hanger H. The flanges 11 of the hanger are in supportingengagement with the shoulders 5 of the anchor and in contact with theinclined surfaces 6 of the shoulders. The flanges 8 of the hanger areshowe in supported engagement with an I beam 14. The I beam may form apart of a support structure 15 such as is shown in Figure 5.

As shown in Figure 5 the support structure 15 consists of a rectangularframe portion which is adapted to be mounted above and adjacent to anopen top, rectangular mold 16. The frame portion of the structure 15 isshown in Figure 5 as having parallel I beams 14 secured thereto andextending in parallel relationship lengthwise thereof. Each I beam isshown as supporting a number of spaced anchors A by means of hangers Hsecured to the anchors, it being understood that the flanges 8 of theanchors are in supported engagement with the lower flange of an I beam14.

In accordance with usual procedure the mold 16 is adapted to receivecastable material 16a which is poured into the open top of the moldaround, and in intimate contact with the anchors A suspended within themold. The castable material 16a within the mold is also in inti matecontact with and surrounds a substantial portion of eachanchor-supporting hanger H which is'supported 4 above the mold. Undersuch conditions, each anchor A as embedded in and forms a part of themonolithic strut: ture formed within the mold 16. It is also apparentthat the portion of each hanger H which extends into the confines of themold is embedded in and, consequently,

is secured to the monolithic structure formed within the mold. Aspreviously set forth, this procedure is old and well known and will notbe further described except to note that because of the cooperatinginclined surfaces 6 of the shoulders 5 and of the flanges 11, eachanchor is firmly positioned on the shoulder-engaging flanges 11 of ahanger by reason of the fact that a lateral surface thereof is alsoengaged by the upstanding stops or lugs 13 formed as a part of eachhanger. As a result of the inclination of the cooperating supportingsurfaces of the shoulders 5 and the flanges 11 and also the positioningof the stops 13, there is little chance of accidental displacement ofthe anchor with relation to its supporting hanger after it is properlypositioned on the hanger. Thus, while each anchor A may be readilyremoved from engagement with its cooperating hanger H, the coopera tionbetween the flanges 1111 of the hanger, the inclined surfaces 66 of theanchor and the stops 13 of the hanger, firmly position the anchor on itssupporting hanger and prevent accidental displacement of the anchor withrelation to its hanger.

It should be noted that the hanger support members 14 are often formedas an integral part of the mold structure. That is to say, they aresupported on the upper edges of the mold and are generally secured tothe end walls of the mold. It will also be apparent that these hangersupport members need not be in the form of I beams, although it is usualto employ such beams as hanger supports. The usual and preferredprocedure is to form the mold structure with both an open top and anopen bottom. In addition, the dimensions of the anchors A and thehangers H are generally such that the bottom or plane face of the anchoris located in the plane defined by the lower edges of the open bottommold structure. Under such conditions the mold structure with thehangers and anchors in place thereon may be set on a flat structure suchas a flat platform which then functions as the bottom of the mold. Withsuch an arrangement the castable material delivered to the moldstructure and around the anchors will not flow under the anchors. Inaddition, the castable material is often so delivered to the moldstructure that the upper surface of that material is substantially inline with the upper surface of the anchors supported in the moldstructure. I note these variations in procedure merely for the purposeof stressing the fact that the actual procedure of forming the caststructure around the anchors A forms no part of the present invention.

While I have illustrated and described but one embodiment of myinvention, it will be apparent that various changes, additions andomissions may be made in the apparatus illustrated without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaim.

What I claim is:

The combination of a refractory anchor and the supporting hangertherefor, consisting of an elongated anchor converging from the lowerend thereof toward the upper end thereof and having two oppositelydisposed laterally projecting hanger-engaging shoulders formed adjacentthe upper end thereof, with the hanger-engaging surface of each suchshoulder extending longitudinally of the shoulder at an angle to thehorizontal and located intermediate the ends of the anchor; and ametallic hanger for said anchor having two re-entrant, oppositelydisposed, spaced support-engaging flanges formed at one end thereof andtwo re-entrant, oppositely disposed spaced anchor-engaging flangesformed at the other end thereof, each such flange extending lengthwiseat an angle to the horizontal corresponding to the angle of thehanger-en- 6 Homolya Apr. 29, 1949 Forsyth Nov. 3, 1953 Phelps Mar. 19,1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Dec. 10, 1953 Great Britain Aug. 1, 1951

